1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to the processing of video signals; and more particularly to the interpolation of temporally consecutive video frames.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Block-based minimum mean-squared error (MSE) motion estimation techniques used to interpolate motion between two temporally-consecutive frames of a video sequence, provide the best match for each block, but do not necessarily provide motion vectors which represent true motion. Previously proposed motion compensated temporal interpolation (MCTI) algorithms have used modified motion estimation methods for estimating motion to ultimately display a reasonable reconstructed version of the image transmitted. When extraction of the motion is not precise, the image reconstructed will not be smooth and will include discontinuities. Therefore, there exists a need for an improved scheme for motion compensated interpolation of video sequences between temporally-related video frames.